Lisle fits right into regional field
Last Friday the Illinois High School Association announced its Class 1A and 2A boys basketball playoff pairings.
From where Lisle coach Mark LaScala sits - seeded fourth in the Aurora Christian regional, part of the Class 2A Plano sectional - it's an equitable fit.
"I think it's very well balanced," said LaScala, whose Lions open the playoffs Feb. 22 against fellow Interstate Eight Conference foe Plano, the No. 5 seed.
"I think we have an equal chance of winning our regional and losing in the first round."
The expansion to four classes and the closing of Driscoll pared DuPage County "small schools" to Lisle and Timothy Christian - No. 1 seed at Aurora Christian - and Immaculate Conception, the top seed of its own regional. Both regionals feed into the Joliet Township supersectional. (Pairings for 3A and 4A will be announced Friday.)
Timothy Christian played Aurora Christian on Tuesday, tuning up the Eagles 65-28. A possible regional final is an intriguing rematch of 17-6 Timothy and the No. 2 seeded Westmont Sentinels, 15-9 entering Wednesday, who beat Timothy 61-56 on Feb. 2.
"There is a lot of parity between the teams," said Trojans coach Jack LeGrand. "I think on any given night, teams could rise to the challenge."
Timothy hosted its own 2A regional last season and lost to Walther Lutheran in the first round. Walther went on to beat No. 1 seed Immaculate Conception in the final.
This season Walther (9-12) is seeded fourth at IC. Should Bill Koehne's Broncos get past No. 5 ACT Charter, they'll meet the 11-13 Knights in a Feb. 25 regional semifinal. The winner advances to play either Luther North or Douglass in what could be an anticlimactic final.
"I think whoever wins the game between us and Walther wins the regional, if you look at it realistically," said IC coach Darren Howard. "I think we have the best talent, and I think we have the toughest schedule."
The winner at Aurora Christian advances to face the Northridge Prep winner, where the hosts and St. Benedict are the top two seeds. IC's winner plays the Holy Trinity regional winner; Latin and Providence-St. Mel are Nos. 1-2 there. The sectional final is March 5.
Reunited: Some familiar faces clashed on Tuesday when Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard West met in Glen Ellyn.
Sound familiar? Three months ago the two schools played for the Class 7A state football championship. Like their 31-24 double-overtime win in the fall, the Tigers also claimed a win in Tuesday's basketball game by beating Glenbard West 63-45.
"It was a lot of fun," Tigers junior Reilly O'Toole said of the rematch on the court. "There was a lot of talking going on out there, but it was all in fun."
O'Toole said he's friendly with several of Glenbard West's athletes who, like O'Toole, play football and basketball. O'Toole said he competed against Nick Burrello in middle school and played on a sixth-grade team with Jack Marston.
The two quarterbacks in the state title football game - O'Toole and Glenbard West's Tyler Warden - again led their respective teams on Tuesday. O'Toole scored 9 points and dished 11 assists, while Warden scored a game-high 18 points.
Marathon weekend: An already-long weekend became even longer - and much more joyful - for Fenton coach Dennis Cromer.
On Friday the Bison (8-13, 3-5) lost a grueling 93-90 double-overtime Metro Suburban Conference game at Illiana Christian. The next night Cromer's disappointment eased considerably when his daughter, Denise, gave birth to his first grandchild, Charlotte Anne, who was born at 10:17 p.m. Saturday.
"It was an interesting weekend, to say the least," Cromer said.
Fenton, which a few weeks ago endured the heartbreak of losing to Ridgewood on a half-court shot, suffered a similarly tough loss on Friday. Illiana Christian hit a shot in the waning seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, and then Emeka Umeadi's free throws late in the first overtime sent the game to a second extra period.
Worn down and thin on its bench, the Bison finally succumbed to Illiana Christian and Jordan Brink, who scored 46 points. Dan Montano, who led Fenton with 29 points, Terence Southward, Vince Esposito and Umeadi all fouled out as the Bison scored the most points in a game in program history.
"To lose like that was tough, but our guys played their hearts out," Cromer said. "We've played well since the first of the year, we've just had trouble finishing games off."
Close calls: Naperville North (17-5, 6-4) won three games last week by a total of 7 points. Two wins came in the DuPage Valley Conference against West Aurora and Wheaton Warrenville South.
With four DVC games remaining, including Friday's cross-town game against Naperville Central, winning the close ones could be a good sign for the Huskies.
"I was really proud of our kids in all three games," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers. "No matter what was thrown at us, we just persevered."
Food drive: Friday's cross-town game at Naperville North will feature the Huskies' annual food drive. Fans from Naperville Central and North are encouraged to bring their non-perishable food items to the game. Proceeds will go to the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.
Point of emphasis: Benet, 9-0 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference and tied with St. Joseph - whose coach, Gene Pingatore, brought assistant Tom McMahon to scout Tuesday's game at Wheaton Academy - has bigger fish to fry than a nonconference game.
Benet coach Gene Heidkamp did stress the importance of the Redwings' 64-55 victory over the Warriors.
"It is because they're a very good team, they're well--coached," said Heidkamp, in his second year heading Benet.
"We know they're ranked ahead of us in (the Daily Herald Top 20)" - Nos. 4 and 5 - "we read the paper, too.
"Even though that's not a major thing for us, we think we have a decent team and we're getting better. To beat a good team on their home floor is always a point of emphasis."
On the other hand: Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson said Tuesday's loss, just the Warriors' second, will help in the long run.
"Don't get me wrong," Ferguson said, "the loss hurts. We feel like we didn't play very well and I thought Benet played a great game. A lot of the reason why we didn't play well is because they did things that took us out of things, so my hat's off to them.
"I think it helps us in that we'll go back and look at the tape and see some of the things we didn't do well and hopefully bounce back and learn from it. We will."